Sweetness
by Sadistic Shroom
Summary: Bethyl AU: Daryl wasn't sure what to make of her at first. Her eyes where too big, too blue and her face too young-Hell, she was only 18, she was young. But, despite the protests and reasoning, Beth was, in her own unique way, perfect for him.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: Holy crap. I rewrote this about 70 times before deciding this version would suffice as a psuedo prologue/first chapter sort of deal. I am so sorry if it is weird, and it is important to understand this is completely AU, and a Bethyl fanfic.**

I. Cry

Her throat burned. The clear, running water of the river mocked her-and the sun was going to kill her.

She reached a hand up, wiping at her forehead, before letting it fall to her side. The sun found her eyes once more, the momentary shade of her arm having left her. Beth angled her head down slightly, and forced herself to move forward.

She hadn't seen Maggie since the herd had forced them out of the house-their father's screams following in their wake.

She had forced herself not to cry, and had even gone as far as to convince herself that maybe he would be okay. Maybe he would still find his way to Mama, and they could be happy in heaven.

Beth told herself his death had been quick-that it hadn't hurt, and it was because of that she wouldn't let herself cry.

Maggie had held no such qualms. Tears had rolled down her sister's cheeks, and she had fallen to her knees, and just cried. That was probably the main reason Beth told herself not too.

_"We don't cry anymore."_

Beth's throat continued to burned.

...

II. Lost

Beth was lost.

She didn't recognize the trees, she didn't see the one Jimmy had carved their names into. She didn't see her home-she didn't see the creek her and Shawn and Maggie had played in when they were younger. Where Beth had learned to swim.

The river she had seen earlier was long gone, the tainted water that had run red and stopped the sick from getting to her. Twigs crunched underneath her feet, filling the silence. Beth didn't try and stop the sound, it was comforting, when she had no one around, no one to speak with.

Her throat continued to ache, and the sun beating down on her pale skin, burning it wasn't helping matters. Beth was lost, and nobody was going to find her.

...

III. Blood

She saw the blood first-before anything else.

It was on the trees, on the ground, and she didn't know where it came from. So she continued walking, swaying slightly from her dehydration, balancing herself on trees as best as she could.

A creek had just come into sight when she saw the crossbow aimed at her.

Her eyes widened, and she managed to squeak out, "No please!" Her voice was hoarse, scratchy, but it did the job.

The man didn't lower the weapon, but he seemed to loose some aggression in his stance.

Unable to contain herself anymore, Beth practically threw herself into the creek, falling to her knees on the muddy ground, wetting her jeans and submerging her hands in the water and drinking.

It was bliss, heaven, even.

Beth had never felt so happy to have water before. When she felt sick, she looked up again, this time more wary at the man and asked slowly, "Who are you?"

Beth licked her lips, resisting the urge to glance over her shoulder as she responded slowly, her voice shaky, "B-Beth."

His eyes narrowed, and he gestured to her with the bow, demanding, "Where'd you come from?"

She shrugged, staring at him nervously as she stuttered out, "I d-dunno. My sister and I, we got separated awhile back."

Beth brightened slightly, asking slowly, "Have you seen her? Her name's Maggie, she's got short hair-"

"We ain't seen nobody like that," he told her, lowering his bow before saying, "'m Daryl."

"Beth," she told him, forcing a smile.

"Y'already said that." he reminded her, brushing past her.

Beth frowned after him, "Where're you going?"

"None your business,_ Beth._" Daryl snapped, ignoring her as she stumbled after him.

"Can I come with?"

"No."


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: Woah. The response to this story has been unreal. You guys are amazing! Really. Thank you all so much. **

**To clarify, by the end of the chapter, Beth and Daryl have been making their way in the direction of Atlanta for about a week through the woods. Beth was pretty far away from her home, and lets face it, Daryl has to take a lot of detors for Beth. **

**Any questions feel free to PM me or review, and I will do my best to explain. Though I will not answer everything as somethings are better left unanswered. **

I. Quiet

Daryl didn't talk much. Beth counldn't bring herself to mind, and filled the endless silence herself. She talked about Maggie and Shawn and her daddy. She talked about Before.

Daryl didn't talk much.

It was the third day she was with him she finally asked him where they were going.

""M lookin' for my brother. Got seperated awhile back, in Atlanta."

It was the longest sentence Beth had heard from him.

"You have a brother?" she found herself asking against her better judgement.

Daryl didn't respond, and Beth deflated slightly but continued talking quietly.

"Shawn taught me how to swim. Maggie never really had enough patience-she was the oldest, ya know. Shawn always was the one to teach me things. It... it never bothered him that Maggie wasn't really his sister." the unspoken words that Maggie never really thought of him as her brother hung in the air. Beth prattled on, talking through her tears. "He was annoying and overprotective, and he... and-"

Beth choked on her tears, and started wiping at her face angrily. "I never cry. I_ swore_ I wouldn't. We don't get to cry anymore!" She was reminding herself more than she was telling him.

She looked up when she felt a hand rest on her head, her arms dropping to her sides.

Beth forced herself to meet his eyes.

He didn't say anything, and she hadn't exactly expected him too. Beth forced herself to look strong, and said, "I don't cry anymore."

Daryl didn't say much to her in the following weeks either.

II. Death

"Daryl!"

"Beth!"

She didn't think she'd ever hear him sound so scared. So angry. Beth strugged despite the gun pressed against her temple.

Dying wouldn't be so bad.

She just worried about Daryl being all alone.

Her back was pressed against the man's, his arm crushing her chest.

"Lemme go!" she screamed, kicking backwards and fowards, failing her arms around.

"Let'er go." Daryl's voice came from behind them, eerily calm.

_I'm not the best type of people, Beth._

The man dropped to the ground, dead, a knife lodged in his head, that Daryl smoothly ripped out. Beth felt sick.

III. Talking

"Daryl?"

Daryl inclined his head slightly, but made no other move to show her head her.

Beth translated this as, _"yes Beth, what do you want?" _More or less, anyway.

"Do you think we'll find other people?" she asked tentatively.

Daryl hadn't exactly snapped at her, per se, though he had given her several proper lectures when she accidentally scared away game or made too much noise.

Beth quickly learned to walk quietly after that.

"Dunno. Last people I was with handcuffed my brother to a roof and left him to die."

Daryl had never elaborated on what happened prior to meeting her, why he was in the woods, or why his brother had gotten lost.

"... these were..." Beth searched for the proper words, feeling strangely like a small child. "Bad people?"

Daryl's jaw clenched, and he shrugged. _"Doesn't matter because we will never meet them again." _

Beth considered this for awhile before informing him quietly, "You're good people, Daryl."

Daryl didn't say anything and continued marching through the trees.


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: You guys are seriously so flattering. I honestly can't even begin to say how baffled I am at the reviews and favourites and follows. I'm in shock right now-honestly. You guys are wonderful. Thank you so much. **

**This is definately a slow burn, with a lot of character development in the works. Daryl and Beth... they both have a lot of stuff they need to get through before it becomes an actual romance-romance. ****For awhile, they will have that sort of thing that is so innocent, so right it can't be seen any other way. **

I. Sick

The cars made Beth nervous. Daryl didn't seem affected, though he never really did.

They'd managed to avoid the sick in the woods, Daryl often steering her in a different direction when he noticed footprints. So when one grabbed her leg as she weaved through the broken down cars, she screamed, kicking it off.

Beth yelled when Daryl killed it, asking if she was alright.

Beth knew they weren't sick like her daddy said. Her mama was dead the minute she turned. So was Shawn, and her daddy.

They'd been wrong. Beth knew this the minute the herd forced her and Maggie to leave the farm.

She liked to pretend, sometimes. It was easier that way. She could pretend that her mama and daddy and Shawn and Maggie were waiting for her back at the farm.

That Daryl was helping her get home to her family.

She pushed herself from the ground, walking over to the sick that had tried to...

It was a woman. Blonde hair that was scraggly and matted, falling out in large chunks and slick with grease. Her skin was green and black blood oozed from her eye where Daryl had shot her with his arrow. Beth kneeled, whispering a small prayer before ripping the arrow from the sick, and handing it back to Daryl.

"We thought they were sick." she finally said a few hours later, as Daryl began hotwiring a car.

She didn't bother to ask if he'd learned Before or After.

Daryl paused in his movements, glancing back at her for a moment before going back to his work.

_I'm sorry._ Beth translated silently, a weak smile crossing her lips.

...

II. Thoughts

The car ride was silent, and instead of talking like she normally would have, Beth found herself silent, lost in her own thoughts.

The sick that had tried to kill her before, Shawn's vacant gaze as he died, her fingers going slack in her hand as he bleed out.

Her mother falling suddenly, her head cracking against the ground. Dead.

Her father's screams.

"Merle and me, we would go to Uncle Jess' house whenever we could. Pa wasn't around much... Ma didn't care enough." Daryl said suddenly, startling Beth from her disturbing thoughts.

Beth looked at him in bewilderment.

She'd been trying to get him to talk with her for weeks.

Almost as if hearing her silent question, Daryl shrugged. "You don't like the silence."

Beth blinked, before she bowed her head slightly, and leaned it against the glass. When Daryl made no move to continue talking, Beth recalled some happier memories of her friends from school, and started telling a story.

...

III. Atlanta

The entrance to Atlanta was blocked off, boarded up and abandoned. Warnings scrawled over the fencing. Beth's stomach turned, and she looked up at Daryl, who swallowed and gave a curt nod.

Beth forced a smile in return.

Daryl needed to know, so therefore Beth did too.

...

IV. Jelwery

Beth didn't know what they were looking for. And she had a feeling Daryl wasn't so sure himself.

When he made a sudden, abrupt turn to a building and began walking over confidently, Beth surpressed her bewilderment and followed closely behind him.

She paused momentarily to look at a locket, appriciating it's simple beauty. Beth thought of her mother's back at the farm, still in her jewerly box, and purposely went over to Daryl.

She didn't have time to think of things like that now.

"Ready?" she found herself asking, as Daryl shifted on his feet, practically screaming, _what if he isn't there?_

Or worse.

_What if he is?_

...

V.

Merle wasn't there.

But his hand was.

Beth didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and apparently neither did Daryl.

He yelled instead, kicking at the ground and screaming profanities in the air.

Beth hugged him tightly from behind when he finally sunk to the ground, clenching his fists in anger, his crossbow discarded.

"It's alright Daryl," Beth whispered. "We'll find him."


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: You all are the best. Honestly. I don't think you even know. Like seriously. Holy crap. Holy freaking crap. Thank you, so much. **

I. People

"Daryl?" Beth asked, the sunlight streaming through the windows of the truck hitting her leg, warming her.

Daryl glanced at her.

Beth prattled on. "Do you think that we will ever meet anyone ever again?"

Daryl shurgged. _I don't know. _

She just hummed after that.

...

II. Faith

"You like to sing, don't you?" Daryl asked her suddenly.

It was dark, and Beth was snuggled into the corner, a blanket wrapped around her as she hummed softly and sipped at her water.

Beth smiled. "Daddy always said I had a nice voice. Maggie and I would sing sometimes at night. I was in the choir at church, too."

Daryl's jaw clenched and his fingers wound around the steering wheel. "Do you still think there's a God after all this?"

A silence fell, and before Daryl had a chance to decide talking was a waste, she responded gently, "Yeah, I do."

He looked up at her. _How? _

She didn't know.

...

III. Cold

Beth screamed herself awake.

_Again. _

Daryl shuffled on the sofa, lifting the blanket tossed over him as a silent invitation. Beth scurried over, tucking herself into his side.

Winter had come harsh and abuptly, it made Beth's toes cold and Daryl give up his jacket for her more than once.

It wasn't exactly uncommon for Beth to have bad dreams. For his part, Daryl handled each one with a sort of grace, silently protecting her from the monsters that were very real.

He didn't sleep on those nights.

...

III. Dixon

She didn't know his last name.

He was just... Daryl.

Months had gone by, summer had left and winter was nearing.

So when she heard the shocked, nearly startled voice call out in disbelief, "Dixon? Daryl Dixon?" she froze in confusion.

_Daryl Dixon. _

His footsteps faulted, and he turned his head, his crossbow slung over his shoulder and his knife clenched in his fist.

Beth buried herself as best as she could, sinking to the ground and wishing she could just vanish. Daryl hadn't said anything yet, and she was too scared to go out on her own.

Daryl hadn't told her too, anyway.

"You. You're that kid. The pizza kid." Daryl said, sounding bemused. "What the hell are you doin' here?"

"What am I doing here? Dixon, everyone-we thought you were _dead!"_ the pizza kid exclaimed. "Have you been alone for all this time?"

Daryl paused momentarily, and Beth could practicall see him figit, before calling out, "Beth, c'mere."

Beth stood slowly, and walked out from behind the row of medcine, and remained half-hidden behind Daryl, clenching her knife so hard her knuckles were white.

Daryl did a sort of gesture to her. "Tha's Beth."

Beth waved awkwardly.

"Uh, Glenn." the stranger replied, staring at her for longer than what seemed necessary. "Beth... Greene?"

Beth's eyes widened, and she shrunk back. "How do you know my last name?"

Glenn's eyes lit up, and he smiled enthusiastically. "M-Maggie! Maggie Greene, she's your older sister, she passed through a couple of months ago, took off with the Morales', caught a ride with them."

Beth defated slightly, her eyes hardening.

"She seemed to be under the impression that you'd either be alive and try to go back to the farm, or a walker... she uh, asked us to leave you if you where... a walker, that is." Glenn explained, soundig flustered.

Beth stepped foward. "Thank you, Glenn. I think it's best you leave now."

Glenn frowned, but at Beth's cold gaze, quickly nodded in agreement, informing Daryl that they where at a house a few miles away, and gave a set of sloppy directions.

Daryl didn't say anything. Neither did Beth.


	5. Chapter 5

**Note: Thank you to everyone who has favourited me and this story-it's an honor, really. This is very short, and I apologize for that. I've been incredibly busy, so haven't had much time to really work on my stories. **

I. Nomads

Beth stayed with Daryl for what could have been years.

She knew it wasn't, but the routine forming between the two of them was undeniable. The familiarity.

It was around that time Beth decided Daryl needed her about as much as she needed him.

They hadn't seen anyone for so long, and the people they did gave them dirty looks or called Daryl rude names when his back was turned.

They'd always leave soon after that, taking food and a vehicle.

The first few times Beth was nervous, scared about taking something from the people who needed it as much as they did.

It was only after they narrowly escaped cannibals, actual, genuine _cannibals_, did Beth stop feeling so guilty.

Beth had casually refered to the two of them as drifters during an introduction, causing Daryl too look slightly unsettled.

She just called themselves nomads after that-much to Daryl's amusement.

II. Cold

Beth screamed herself awake.

_Again. _

Daryl shuffled on the sofa, lifting the blanket tossed over him as a silent invitation. Beth scurried over, tucking herself into his side.

Winter had come harsh and abuptly, it made Beth's toes cold and Daryl give up his jacket for her more than once.

It wasn't exactly uncommon for Beth to have bad dreams. For his part, Daryl handled each one with a sort of grace, silently protecting her from the monsters that were very real.

He didn't sleep on those nights.

III. Songbird

"I'll be your Emmylou," Beth half sang, half grumbled. "I'll be your June, too."

She was half sure she was singing it wrong too.

"Didn't know you could sing," Daryl told her from his place under the tree they'd stopped at.

Beth grinned, her cheeks warming slightly. "Sorry."

Daryl made a sort of gesture with his hands, "Go on. S'nice. 'sides I already know everythin' 'bout your childhood anyway."

Beth took a breath, and sang softly, her gaze purpsely set on the ground, "Oh the bitter winds are coming in, and I'm already missing the summer."

She paused slightly, looking up at his expression before suddenly finding the rock beside her. "Stockholm's cold but I've been told, I was born to endure this kind of weather. When it's you I find like a ghost in my mind, I'm defeated and I gladly wear the crown."

Beth trailed off, hesitating slightly as she tried to recall the lyrics.

Daryl smiled at her when she looked up.

_I'll be your Emmylou and I'll be your June _

_If you'll be my Gram and my Johnny too. _

_No, I'm not asking much of you _

_Just sing little darling, sing with me._

_..._


End file.
